Brand Spotlight

First Dance Strikes a Chord! GigMasters.com Wedding Survey Finds 25% of Couples Say 'No Way' When a Friend Chooses the Same 'First Dance' Song

2/19/2009

With 25% engagements having just occurred between Thanksgiving and New Years, many brides and grooms-to-be will start making wedding plans this winter. A survey of 190 recently married GigMasters.com customers found that 34% of couples spend more than 10% on entertainment, with most couples spending 6-10% on entertainment. Almost 30% found entertainment to be "one of the most important aspects" of their weddings. Survey recipients used GigMasters.com to find and book their wedding entertainment. GigMasters boasts a nationwide database of over 5,500 top-quality, rated entertainment acts, all of which can be sorted by location, category and price range to facilitate entertainment matches for any type of event.

Of the most interesting findings was the discrepancy of who played a larger part in the booking of wedding entertainment, 51% replied the bride did more, and 14% said the groom did. However, according to GigMasters.com data, 34% of grooms actually booked the entertainment! 35% responded that neither played a larger role because the work was shared equally.

When asked which was the "most important music" of their wedding, 30% of couples deemed their first dance song to be it. 14% thought that the ceremony prelude was the most important music of their event, and all others (55%) felt that the different music was all equally special.

More first dance findings include:

25% of respondents said they'd be upset if their best friend chose the same wedding song.

Only 4% of respondents said that in retrospect, they would change the song they picked for their first dance, but 15% revealed that they'd consider it.

When asked how they came to choose their first dance song, almost 60% had known it before even being engaged. 5% welcomed recommendations from friends and family, 10% looked online and 18% found it completely randomly.

The majority (38%) of respondents said that upon engagement, the type of wedding entertainment they'd book was the first wedding detail to be discussed. The second most popular detail to be discussed first was the menu (32%), followed by the honeymoon (26%) and lastly, the first dance song (4%).

Though most couples booked only one act for their wedding (42%), almost as many (40%) booked two. 10% of respondents booked three separate acts and 6% booked four! Of the entertainment booked, over 1/3 of the respondents picked a soloist and another 1/3 used a DJ. 16% also or otherwise booked a quartet and 26% went with a live band. On the more unique side, some couples booked magicians (1%) and impersonators (3%).

Other 2008 GigMasters wedding entertainment statistics:

Couples spent on average $825 on wedding entertainment. The lowest being $100 for a singer; the highest being $11,000 for a 10-piece jazz band.

GigMasters.com(C) is the #1 online entertainment booking service, guiding party planners and hosts to the right entertainment for every event. With the Internet's largest nationwide database of client-rated performers for live music and variety entertainment, this Redding, CT-based business boasts a database of over 5,500 performers including live bands, wedding musicians, party DJs, impersonators, hypnotists, stand-up comedians, jazz trios, bagpipes, string quartets, soloists and more. GigMasters.com has helped facilitate more than 50,000 bookings since its inception in 1997, including over 20,000 in 2008 alone. The site, which was founded by Kevin Kinyon and Michael Caldwell, attracts 20,000 daily visits*, throughout North America. GigMasters.com is a proud member of the Better Business Bureau, TRUSTe, and is also a VeriSign Secured website. For more information, please visit www.gigmasters.com.